Prosecutors have refused to reconsider charges in the case of Poppi Worthington as a coroner prepares to deliver his verdict on what happened to the 13-month-old before her death.

As the five-year fight for justice for Poppi, who a High Court judge has ruled was probably sexually assaulted before her death, nears its end the Crown Prosecution Service(CPS) said that there were no plans to look at the case again.

Senior coroner for Cumbria David Roberts has been deliberating over the evidence heard throughout her inquest for almost a month and will deliver the final verdict on Monday.

On the balance of probabilities he could rule that Poppi was unlawfully killed, or deliver a narrative verdict setting out what he believes happened in her final hours.

This fresh inquest was ordered by the High Court after the controversial first hearing in 2014, held by a different coroner, was shrouded in secrecy and lasted just seven minutes.

But spokesman for the CPS, who had said that they would be watching the events of the inquest closely, said that no new evidence had come to light during the hearings.

The spokesman added: “It has been looked at twice both in terms of after the original police investigation and then later after the victim’s right to review. There are no current plans to look at it again.”

The coroner can order the CPS to review that decision, but sources say that it is “unlikely” that he will use those powers.

Poppi was just 13 months old when she was heard to scream out before her father Paul brought her lifeless body downstairs in the family home in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria on the morning of December 12 2012.

During the inquest Mr Worthington, who denies any wrongdoing, refused to answer a total of 252 questions over four hours about Poppi’s final moments, during which it was pointed out that he is the only person who knows what happened.

Relying on Coroner’s rules, which mean that a person does not have to answer any question which might incriminate them, he refused to respond to questions about whether he had abused his daughter or put his hand over her mouth.

Poppi’s father, Paul Worthington,Credit:
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It has already been concluded by a High Court judge that he probably sexually assaulted her. No charges have been brought as a litany of failings in the police investigation means that there is “insufficient evidence” to bring a criminal case.

The refusal of the CPS to look again at the evidence is likely to revive calls for ministers to order a full public inquiry into the case.

Karen Bradley, then a Home Office Minister, refused calls for such a hearing in early 2016, saying: “We do need to learn lessons from this case but we need to wait for that second inquest.”